One of Hollywood's finest character / method actors, Eli Wallach has been in demand for over fifty years on stage and screen and has worked alongside the biggest stars including Clark Gable, Clint Eastwood, Steve McQueen, Marilyn Monroe, Yul Brynner, 'Peter O'Toole' and Al Pacino to name but a few.

Wallach was born on December 7th, 1915 in Brooklyn, New York to Jewish parents, and subsequently became one of the few Jewish kids growing up in an Italian neighborhood. He went on to graduate with a B.A. from the University of Texas in Austin, but gained his dramatic training with the Actors Studio and the Neighbourhood Playhouse. He made his debut on Broadway in 1945, and won a Tony Award in 1951 for portraying "Alvaro Mangiaco" in the Tennesse Williams play "The Rose Tattoo".

Eli made a strong screen debut in 1956 in the film production of the Tennesse William's play Baby Doll, then shone in the film noir The Lineup , and co-starred in the heist film Seven Thieves. Director John Sturges then cast Wallach as the vicious Mexican bandit "Calvera" in The Magnificent Seven, the western adaptation of the Akira Kurosawa epic _Schichinin no Samurai (1954)_ . By all reports, Wallach could not ride a horse prior to making "TMS", however with expert tutelage from the Mexican stunt riders, he made it look easy! He next appeared in the superb The Misfits, in the star spangled western opus How the West Was Won, the under rated WW2 film The Victors, as a kidnapper in The Moon-Spinners, in the sea epic Lord Jim, and in the romantic comedy How to Steal a Million.

Looking for a third lead actor in the final episode of the "Dollars Trilogy", Italian director Sergio Leone then cast the versatile Wallach as the lying, two-faced, money hungry (but somehow lovable) bandit "Tuco"in the spectacular _Buono, il brutto, il cattivo, Il (1967)_ (aka "The Good, The Bad and The Ugly" ).....arguably his most memorable performance.

He kept busy throughout the remainder of the 60s and into the 70s with good roles in Mackenna's Gold, Cinderella Liberty, Crazy Joe, The Deep and as Steve McQueen bail buddy in _Hunter, The .

The 1980s was an interesting period for Wallach as he then became regularly cast as an aging doctor, a mafia figure or an over the hill hit man.....such as in _Executioner's Song, The (1982)_ , Our Family Honor, Tough Guys, Nuts, The Two Jakes and as the candy addicted "Don Altabello" in The Godfather: Part III. At 75+ years of age, Wallach's quality of work was still first class and into the 1990s and beyond, he has remained in demand. He lent fine support to _Vendetta: Secrets of a Mafia Bride (1991)_ , _Teamster Boss: The Jackie Presser Story (1992)_ , _Naked City: Justice with a Bullett (1998)_ and Keeping the Faith. Most recently Wallach showed up as a fast talking liquor store owner in Mystic River and in the comedic drama King of the Corner.

In early 2005, Eli Wallach released his much anticipated autobiography "The Good, The Bad And Me: In My Anecdotage".....a wonderfully enjoyable read from one of the screen's most inventive and enduring actors.


Genghis Khan (1965): $25,000/week
The Lineup (1958): $50,000

Graduated from The University of Texas at Austin - BA 1936. Turned down the role in From Here to Eternity (1953) that won Frank Sinatra an Oscar. One of three actors to play the character of Mr. Freeze on "Batman" (1966). (The other two were George Sanders and Otto Preminger). He once said that he has received more fan mail for that role than for any other role he has ever done. Was named as "King of Brooklyn" at the Welcome Back to Brooklyn Festival in 1998. His wife Anne Jackson was named "Queen of Brooklyn" at the same festival. Was credited with his first Broadway appearance in Harry Kleiner's "Skydrift" in 1945, the play in which Rita Moreno made her Broadway debut. The play closed after seven performances. Also appeared as a soothsayer in Katharine Cornell's 1947 production of William Shakespeare's "Antony and Cleopatra." Other cast members in minor roles included Charlton Heston, Maureen Stapleton and Joseph Wiseman. Among the other Broadway plays he has appeared in are "Mr. Roberts," "The Rose Tattoo," "Camino Real," "The Teahouse of the August Moon," "Rhinoceros" and "Luv.". One of his best known roles is the lead bandit Calvera in The Magnificent Seven (1960). Although his character is eventually defeated in the film, he has outlived six of the seven stars, as Robert Vaughn is the only one who is still alive as of 2009, despite the fact that he is older than all of them. In the "Murder, She Wrote" (1984) episode "A Good Year for Murder", he played a dying man, Salatore Gambini, who committed a murder because he had nothing to lose. In the "Law & Order" (1990) episode "The Working Stiff", he played a character, Simon Vilanis, who was suspected of committing a murder for the same reason although he ultimately proved to be innocent. Has a brother and two sisters, all of whom became teachers. He has three grandsons. In 1966, he starred in Il buono, il brutto, il cattivo. (1966) ("The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly") with Clint Eastwood. Thirty-seven years later, Eastwood directed Wallach in Mystic River (2003). While attending The University of Texas he acted in many student plays and in one he costarred with Walter Cronkite. One of his fellow students at Parsons New School for Social Research in New York was Marlon Brando. In an interview on "Fresh Air" (on station WHYY in Philadephia, Pennsylvania), he explained to Terry Gross that he learned to ride horses at the University of Texas: He took care of the polo ponies. During the filming of the The Magnificent Seven (1960), each morning he would ride a few hours with his gang.